


𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 || MARKHYUCK

by seagulbrows



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bottom Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Bottom Na Jaemin, Cute Huang Ren Jun, M/M, Multi, Shy Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Soft Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Soft Na Jaemin, Top Lee Jeno, Top Mark Lee (NCT)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:33:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 17,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25484734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seagulbrows/pseuds/seagulbrows
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83





	1. ↾ one ⇃

**"go ask him out!"**

**"what? no! don't be stupid! i stand no chance!"**

the usual conversations around the town. donghyuck can hear them wherever he goes.

the whole town knows about him and his family.

the name lee donghyuck stood for a brat, a troublemaker and a heartthrob. always misbehaving, breaking the law, causing trouble and much more. and his looks? gorgeous, to others at least. he has girls and guys go after him every five seconds and it's getting really annoying at this point.

but why is he the way he is?

no one knows the answer to that question.

some people think he's just looking for attention, some think he's just a spoiled little brat since his parents are extremely wealthy.

but neither of those opinions are accurate.

there's so much more than just a little brat within the mask he's wearing. there's so much real emotions hidden, so much pain and secrets he may never get to speak about.

is it too childish to dream about a knight in shining armor? a prince charming who will save him from the evil?

**"your life is not a fairytale, donghyuck.."**   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 **"donghyuck!!!"** donghyuck heard his mother scream his name as soon as he stepped inside the house after a tiring day at work.

he's tired of this routine.

taking orders in the coffee shop, walking back and forth from one table to another, standing by the cash register for most of the day and on top of all that, getting hit on by almost every customer.

in fact, he quit today, there's absolutely no point in him going to work anyways.

he would really appreciate it if his parents would be so kind to leave him alone after he gets back, but it is partly his own fault, to be honest.

**"what now, mom?"**

**"i just got yet another call from the sheriff! he said you've been getting into fights again. how many times will i have to tell you to get a grip on yourself?! you're from a family with a very high status, don't ruin it!"**

**"whatever."**

**"i'm not done talking, young man!"** his mother said and followed donghyuck once the boy started walking upstairs to his room. **"you know what? today's a special day and you're going to listen whether you like it or not."**

**"yeah, yeah..."**

**"change into something nice. some guests are coming over tonight, be ready by eight."**

donghyuck could barely hold his anger in. once his mother walked back downstairs, he slammed his door shut and locked it, immediately playing some loud music.

he's already nineteen, why hasn't he left already?

his parents.

they're not letting him leave. he can't even run away due to all the guards they hired to keep and eye on him. he did try to call the police because they were literally forcing him to stay here, but the police did nothing.

his parents are well known, of course the police won't listen to him.

most people would probably love to be from a rich family, but definitely not donghyuck. he always felt like he wasn't a part of this family.

but right now he needs to focus on calming down, he can't let himself get yet another panic attack today, those are exhausting as hell.

two of the most helpful ways to calm down for him were dancing and singing. he gets so into it that sometimes he even forgets how broken he actually is.

if he gives up now and stays quiet all the time, how will he be able to leave this hellhole?

is today.. his chance to change everything?

if some important guests are coming over, he'll just start protesting in front of them. he will do his best to embarrass his parents. maybe they'll get tired of him eventually, who knows?

this is his last chance.


	2. ↾ two ⇃

**"change into something nice, huh.."** donghyuck mumbled to himself and chuckled as he surfed through his closet. **"alright, whatever you wish for, mother."**

he finally pulled out a white loose shirt along with some ripped jeans to go well with his also slightly ripped black jacket.

now's the time for a bit of dark makeup with a messy hairstyle and voilà! he's looking extra fine.

after a while of just admiring himself and messing around in front of the mirror, donghyuck heard a knock downstairs. **"looks like the guests are here. way to ruin my moment.."** he mumbled to himself once again and ran downstairs, opening the door.

 **"oh, hello there, donghyuck. you look exceptionally good tonight!"** a man, maybe in his late 40s or so, greeted him.

without answering, donghyuck just rolled his eyes and let the man in. this is not the first time he's hearing such a compliment, why would he act thankful?

but it really bothered how the man knew his name. and exceptional means better than usual, right? how the hell does he know how he looks if they've never met before?

the man was staring at him with literal hunger in his eyes, that's an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

but still deciding to not pry into that, donghyuck was about to close the door but noticed someone else standing by the door, which startled him a little.

it was a guy, maybe around his age.

black hair done neatly, wearing a fancy black suit as well as shoes. his gaze was pretty intimidating, pretty sure that gaze could even kill someone.

he was glaring at donghyuck for almost slamming the door shut right in his face, but didn't say anything and followed the other man inside.

sighing, donghyuck finally closed the door and led the two guys to the dinning room where his mother was finishing setting the table up.

**"oh, mister lee! my husband is already on his way home, sit down. donghyuck, sweetie, could you help me with the food?"**

**"sweetie? do i look like a fucking candy to you?"** donghyuck hissed and glared at his mother, hearing the man, now known as mister lee, laugh at his statement.

he was not being funny, meaning the man is only trying to get in his pants.

donghyuck only earned a glare back from his mother and was dragged to the kitchen. **"what the hell are you wearing?! be nice or i swear to god."**

**"i'm home! mister lee, so glad to see you here! honey, is the food ready? don't make our guests wait!"**

donghyuck smirked hearing his dad's voice and walked back to the living room, leaving his mother alone who was complaining about him not helping her with the dinner.

he sat down by the table and looked up at his dad who was giving him the same warning gaze as his mother before. **"got a problem, dad?"**

sighing, his dad only shook his head and smiled, ignoring donghyuck's question. **"so.. shall we start?"**

**"we shall indeed."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"so, mister lee, how are things going with your company?"** donghyuck's dad asked, this way starting a conversation once they started to eat.

**"oh, the usual. no changes yet, as you already know."**

donghyuck's mom also wanted to ask a few questions herself, which is why she turned her head towards the younger guy, noticing him throwing weird glances at donghyuck. **"mark, right?"** seeing the other nod in response, she continued. **"how are things going for you?"**

**"i'd just like to know why i was dragged here, if that's okay with you."**

donghyuck, who was sending glares mark's way as well, answered. **"to join the dumb meeting, obviously."**

he didn't know why, but he felt like stabbing this mark guy. his gut was telling him that he's here for a reason and he sure as hell won't like that reason.

who the hell does he think he is coming here looking all handsome and shit?

and what about that old man? he's probably his dad or something, right? who told him it was okay to eye rape him? the fucker is literally drooling!

 **"donghyuck. mark's older, have some respect."** donghyuck's dad said warningly and looked back at the other two men apologetically. **"i'm really sorry, he's just in a bad mood today."**

**"no, it's okay, he's just impatient. i can see that so is my son, so let's just give them what they want. an answer."**

donghyuck's mother smiled, while his dad just nodded in agreement and started. **"mister lee and i want a secure and promising future for our companies and since you two are the heirs of our companies, you two..."**

**"we what..?"**

both mark and donghyuck stared and the two men impatiently, planning to just rip the answer out of their damn throats if they stall any longer.

**"you two are getting married."**

**"WHAT?!"**


	3. ↾ three ⇃

**"what?!"** both donghyuck and mark shouted, standing up at the same time and glaring at their own parents angrily.

**"yes, you two are getting married tomorrow. it'll be private and formal, you two will only sign the marriage certificates, that's all."**

**"you think i'm agreeing to this shit?!"** mark spoke angrily and turned his gaze onto the younger, scanning him from head to toe. **"look at him!"**

getting even more pissed off at the remark, donghyuck grabbed a knife from the table with one hand and mark's tie with another, pulling him down and pinning the tie to the table with the knife. **"absolutely gorgeous, aren't i, sweetheart?"**

groaning, mark lost his patience as well. **"those looks of yours are going to get you in trouble one day, brat."** he spoke, staring the younger dead in the eyes as he pulled the knife out and stabbed the table next to donghyuck's hand instead. **"and i'm not letting you drag me down with you."**

getting shocked by all this sudden violence, both donghyuck's parents and mark's dad seperated the two boys as quick as possible trying to calm them down, but mark's dad's next move absolutely enraged donghyuck.

**"mark, you're going to be in charge of my company soon. we're doing this for the company's well being, think about it."**

and just like that, after hearing his father's words, mark took a deep breath in, calming himself down. **"if it's for the company, i'm agreeing."**

hearing that, donghyuck's adrenaline kicked in. he freed himself out of his parents' grip and ran towards mark, tackling him down. **"why would you agree to this, you asshole! you're just like everybody else! nobody cares about my fucking opinion!!"**

mark was about to fight the boy back, but donghyuck's dad called the guards and they pulled donghyuck away, dragging him upstairs to his room.

**"am i marrying a fucking cat or something? what's the damn scratching for?"**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"ugh..."**

slowly opening his eyes, donghyuck looked around, memories of the arranged marriage immediately filled his mind. this was definitely not his room nor his house.

great.

his dad must have told the guards to drug him again, that's why he doesn't remember getting here. they always do this whenever he gets out of control.

standing up from the couch he was laying on, donghyuck took a few more minutes to look around and let everything sink in.

this house was definitely bigger than his, way fancier too. the interior was amazing, definitely his style, but that doesn't mean he wants to stay here.

wait.

if he's already in a different house, does that mean he's already married to mark? did his parents forge his signature again?

why was mark the only one allowed to make a decision? why couldn't he disagree? is he really going to live with some random stranger?

paying more attention to his surroundings, donghyuck noticed it was already dark outside and started feeling his pockets for his phone which, luckily, was still there.

10:30 pm.

oh, and it's the next day already.

wow, he's been out for quite a long time, wasn't he.

well, time to move.

after making sure nobody was around in the house, donghyuck ran towards the front door, which was very surprisingly unlocked.

gasping, he smiled a little in happiness and stepped out, immediately running towards the gate without even looking around.

big mistake.

he bumped into something and when he looked up, he was met by mark's annoyed glare. seems like the older just came back from work and caught him trying to run away.

seems like luck isn't on donghyuck's side lately, huh.

**"where the hell do you think you're going?"**

**"out? now step aside, asshole."**

**"so you could cause more trouble?"** mark shook his head and suddenly picked donghyuck up, throwing him over his shoulder as he walked back inside the house. **"i don't think so."**

**"what the fuck is wrong with you?! let me go before i rip your face off!!"**

once inside, mark locked the front door and kept the key in his pocket, dropping donghyuck on the floor right after. **"as you wish, princess."**

groaning out in pain, donghyuck rolled on the floor for a bit before sitting up, quietly sniffling. **"fuck you.."** and just like that, he gave up.

he sat there on the floor, quietly. just letting out a few sniffles here and there, trying his best to hold his tears back when he noticed mark staring down at him.

**"can you stop looking at me? it's making me uncomfortable."**

realizing that donghyuck has finally calmed down, mark sighed and helped the boy stand up. **"if you're done being a brat now, i'd like to show you your room."**

**"this floor is just perfect to me, leave me alone."**

mark only rolled his eyes and grabbed donghyuck's wrist, drwgging him upstairs into one of the rooms. **"your mom said you like dancing, so i thought you'd like this."**

tearing his eyes away from the floor, donghyuck looked around the room and saw a huge walk-in closet, the doors of it completely covered with mirrors.

if the doors are closed, it makes a one huge mirror, just like in a dance studio. he always dreamed of having a dance studio, is mark trying to bribe him into getting along or..?

because it's not going to work.

**"it's.. a mirror. so?"**

chuckling, mark leaned against the door frame and looked at donghyuck with a smirk on his face. **"you really think i can't tell how much you're trying to hide your excitement?"**

**"shut up. you can't just give me all the things i've always wanted and expect me to stay put! i want to get out of here and you have no rights to keep me here!!"**

while he walked towards the younger, mark took his time to check him out. he indeed was stunningly beautiful and that's a problem.

even before meeting donghyuck in person for the first time, mark knew a lot about him already. every guy and girl would talk about him and his looks.

some would even tell him what a great night they've spent with him.

**"you want me to let you go so you could go around fucking with people? we're married now, get me in a scandal and you'll regret it."**

getting absolutely offended by the question, donghyuck pushed mark away from himself since he stood way too close for his liking. **"what the fuck do you think i am, some fucking slut??**

**"people have been talking, you know~"**

clenching his fists, donghyuck held himself back from attacking mark and only glared at him, knowing the older was making fun of him now.

 **"they can shove those lies up their ass and choke when it comes back out their throat."** mumbling, he started pushing mark back even further, until he was out of the room. **"now leave me the hell alone."**

he slammed the door right in mark's face and looked around the room one more time. the windows were obviously locked, there's no point in smashing them, that's simply too much.

he'll just lay low for a while, maybe it won't be as bad here?

but..

have people really been spreading rumors about him sleeping around? why would anyone do that?

**"it's like the whole universe hates me."**


	4. ↾ four ⇃

after a long and very tiring night of just tossing and turning in his bed, donghyuck woke up in the morning due to a sound of somebody constantly ringing the doorbell.

groaning, he quickly got out of the bed and walked downstairs, oepning the front door that was unlocked again.

is mark testing him by leaving the door unlocked throughout the night?

either way, he needed to focus on the people in front of him. two guys, slightly smiling at him. **"h-hello?"**

**"good morning, sir. we're here to deliver your things. do you want us to bring it inside?"**

**"things? what things?"**

**"from the old houses."**

**"oh!"** stepping aside a little, donghyuck allowed the workers to walk inside. **"please, go ahead. you can leave it all here, i'll take it from here."**

the men only nodded and brought all the boxes with mark's and donghyuck's stuff inside, leaving right after.

 **"quite a lot of boxes you have there, mark.."** donghyuck spoke to himself and lightly kicked one of the boxes that belong to mark. **"make sure i don't bash your skull in the next time i see you."** with that, he started carrying his own boxes inside his room.

luckily for him, he didn't have to share the same room with mark.

since he didn't have that many boxes compared to mark, donghyuck walked back downstairs to grab his last box and saw mark staring at his own boxes, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

**"do you have no clothes or something? put something on, geez."**

rolling his eyes, mark turned around and chuckled, pointing at his defined abs. **"as if you hate seeing this."**

**"i do, actually. now stop being a cocky bitch and put something on, you're absolutely disgusting."**

**"well.."** mark started, taking a step closer to the boy and grabbing his arm once he was about to back away. **"i suppose you should get dressed too, you're coming to a meeting with me."**

**"wha- you can't just- the fuck?? i'm not going anywhere, i refuse!!"**

letting go of donghyuck's arm, mark picked a few of his own boxes up and started going upstairs to his room. **"i don't remember giving you a choice, donghyuck."**

stomping his feet on the ground angrily, donghyuck pushed past mark and ran up the stairs all the way to his room, slamming the door shut.

he knew mark was expecting him to wear something formal since it's going to be a business meeting, but would donghyuck be donghyuck if he did exactly as he's supposed to?

going through his clothes, donghyuck picked out the most revealing clothes, the most attractive and attention catching ones.

**"done! damn, donghyuck. you looking fine~!"**

giggling after praising himself, donghyuck happily jumped around his room as his mood went up a little. maybe it won't be that bad at the meeting after all? he can just annoy mark in case he gets bored.

so, after making sure he won't go back to being in a bad mood, donghyuck confidently stepped out of his room and walked downstairs.

mark, who was already dressed up and ready to go as well, sighed as he scanned donghyuck from head to toe. **"what the hell was i expecting from you.."**

 **"i can stay home, you know."** donghyuck started, still admiring his choice of clothes. **"you should be glad you married someone so beautiful instead of some ugly bitch who would try to get in your pants all the damn time."**

**"let's just go, you brat."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"you know.. that secretary of yours is very good looking."** one of mark's business partners started. **"i've been here for half an hour now and i swear he gets sexier every time i look at him."**

**"are you-"**

**"how good is he in bed, hm? you must've already slept with him, right? i mean, come on! who in their right mind wouldn't want to?"**

losing his patience at this point, mark snapped a little. **"are you saying you've been checking my husband out this whole damn time??"**

getting shocked and embarrassed at the same time, the guy only cleared his throat and looked down as he walked away as fast as possible.

no one knew mark was married yet. especially to such a pretty boy, the topic of everyone's gossips.

mark only sighed and finally started the meeting once everyone got in their places. he made donghyuck sit somewhere in the corner of the room since he wasn't actually needed for this meeting.

the reason he brought the boy here is simply because he didn't want to leave him alone. he can't risk him causing trouble and getting involved with police again.

mark has a reputation created for him and he sure as hell is going to tame donghyuck in order to keep that reputation safe.

**"so, has anything changed? we're good to set the deal, right?"**

**"the only thing that changed is that they offered us an even greater deal after the company's ratings went up lately, sir. so yes, we're good to set the deal."**

so the marriage really did help, huh. connecting two biggest companies together was a great choice after all.

about an hour into the meeting, donghyuck started getting bored. he tried many ways to get mark's attention, but seems like the older was purposely ignoring him.

having no other choice left anymore, donghyuck stood up from his seat and walked over to mark, sitting on his lap in the middle of the meeting.

with everyone's eyes on them now, mark tightly gripped donghyuck's waist and whispered in his ear. **"what the fuck are you doing?"**

**"are you blind? i'm obviously sitting."**

**"why here?? everyone's staring, get off."**

**"no, i'm fine here, thank you."**

forcefully pushing donghyuck off, mark stood up and gathered all of his things. **"we'll continue this meeting next time. thank you for coming, have a good day."** with that, he grabbed donghyuck by the wrist and pulled him out of the meeting room.

**"let go, you're hurting me!"**

instead of letting go just like the boy asked, mark tightened his grip and let go only when they got into the elevator. **"what the fuck is wrong with you?!"**

he was about to start shouting and scolding him, when he noticed donghyuck tearing up.

the boy looked very pale and absolutely exhausted. he started swaying back and forth until eventually falling forwards, luckily into mark's arms.

donghyuck was clearly trying his best to properly stand up and was even trying to push mark away even though he was the one clinging to him.

getting a little concerned, mark took a proper hold on the boy and stopped him from squirming around. **"are you okay?"**

gaining his strength back, donghyuck pushed mark away. **"l-let go of me."** he stood up straight and fixed his clothes, stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.

**"you almost fainted, so i'm going to ask again and you're going to answer me without lying. are you okay?"**

instead of answering, donghyuck just made his way down the underground parking lot towards mark's car.

he groaned when mark grabbed his arm again and turned around, slapping his hands off. **"i will seriously break your bones if you touch me again, mark. i'm fine, okay?"**

 **"fine."** unlocking the door, mark got inside the car after donghyuck and shook his head disappointedly. **"but is this a way to talk to your husband? what would your parents think about this, hm?"**

**"if you want to keep your reputation clean, i advise you to watch out for them."**


	5. ↾ five ⇃

**"so? what's wrong with him, doctor?"**

apparently, right after mentioning his parents, donghyuck passed out. mark tried everything he could to wake the boy up, but only ended up taking him to the hospital since nothing was working.

the doctor took quite a long time to examine and do a few tests on donghyuck before he came back with a pile of files in his hands. **"there's something weird going on with donghyuck, to be honest."**

**"what do you mean?"**

**"well, i know donghyuck pretty well now due to him always ending up in the hospital. this has happened a lot."**

getting a little shocked, mark eyed the younger that was still unconscious in the hospital bed. **"what's happening to him?"**

**"well, as for right now, he just passed out due to malnourishment. he clearly has been skipping meals lately."**

**"why would he do that?"**

**"i suppose it's up to you to figure that. now, for all the other times he has been here.. he would either get brought in the er all beaten up, malnourished or overdosed."**

**"overdosed??"**

**"i really don't know how, but donghyuck has overdosed quite a few times on a drug that's not that easy to get. he kept saying it was his parents, but i really can't do anything about it without any proof."**

ruffling his hair in frustration, mark sighed and decided to not pry into this any further for now. **"when can i take him home?"**

**"even now, if you want to. he'll be okay, just make sure he eats as soon as he wakes up."**

nodding, mark picked the boy up and left the hospital, heading to his car and straight home.

after a while, they finally got home and mark parked the car in the driveway, leaning back into his seat, patiently waiting for donghyuck to wake up.

mark really wasn't the type to take care of someone, especially such a brat like donghyuck, but now he feels like it's his priority to keep the boy safe and healthy.

he is his husband now, after all.

**"ugh.."**

flinching a little, mark turned his head to the younger's side and noticed him waking up.

that's when anger just took over him.

**"you're starving yourself?!"**

fully awake now, donghyuck looked around before looking at mark in confusion. he couldn't really remember anything about today and on top of that, he has mark attacking him now. **"w-what are you taking about?"**

he saw mark tensing up and heard the quiet low growl that escaped his lips, so he decided to just quickly get out of the car before the male exploded.

but of course, mark just immediately followed him inside the house. **"you damn well what i'm talking about!"** grabbing the younger's arm, he pulled him to the kitchen. **"you're going to eat now without any complaints, got it?"**

surprisingly, instead of fighting him back, donghyuck just looked down and silently nodded, not complaining about anything at all.

that calmed mark down.

the way donghyuck just gave in to his demand so easily was very amusing to him.

he loved being the one in control here.

once donghyuck sat down by the table, mark pulled out his phone and ordered some take out because no matter how good he is at managing business, he can't cook at all.

suddenly the doorbell echoed throughout the whole house, making donghyuck flinch.

 **"shit. if it's our parents, at least try to pretend like we're getting along."** mark gave donghyuck a warning glare and went to open the door.

surprisingly, two females were standing at their doorway. a young girl and an elderly woman.

**"may i help you?"**

**"we're the maids mister lee hired."**

**"oh.."** mark awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and moved to the side, allowing the two to get inside. **"you can take the guest rooms downstairs here."**

while the two maids were setting themselves in, mark took donghyuck's hand in his and dragged him upstairs, both going inside the younger's room.

**"why are you in my room?"**

**"look, we have to act like an actual married couple in front of them. no one's allowed to know that our marriage was arranged."**

**"what the hell am i supposed to do if i don't give a shit, mark?"**

**"donghyuck, please. if we mess up, my dad will come stay here to watch us."**

after mark's dad was mentioned, donghyuck started panicking. he feels extremely uncomfortable around that man, especially when he looks at him with that disgusting smirk on his ugly face.

that's why donghyuck glared at mark and punched his arm couple of times. **"keep that man away from me or i'm cutting your dick off."**

just as mark laughed a little at the threat and was about to answer, a knock on the door interrupted him.

**"sir, there's a food delivery guy downstairs."**

throwing one last glare at mark, donghyuck opened the door and went downstairs, leaving mark behind.

he found mark's wallet in the jacket he left on the kitchen counter, so he took money from it to pay for the food.

he already agreed to eating, so there's no turning back. that's why after sorting the food out, making sure nothing was missing, donghyuck walked out of the kitchen with the take out boxes and saw something he really didn't like.

mark walked out of one of the guest rooms with the younger maid, laughing together with her.

so he's just going to flirt with girls behind his back?

even if they're not together, formally mark is still married, which still counts as cheating, right?

donghyuck has always hated cheaters.

when mark made eye contact with him after realizing the younger was staring at them, he was about to ask what happened, but the younger just interrupted him. **"you're fucking disgusting."**

with a very confused look on is face, mark's eyes followed the younger who ran up the stairs with the food and loudly slammed the door of his room.

**"i was just helping her with her luggage..?"**


	6. ↾ six ⇃

**"sir.. may i come in?"**

hearing a very calm and gentle voice behind the door, donghyuck sniffled and quickly wiped his tears away before opening the door.

the older maid was standing there smiling, holding a big cup of hot chocolate.

quietly chuckling, donghyuck moved to the side to let her in. **"i-is that for me? i love hot chocolate.."**

 **"who doesn't?"** the woman chuckled and carefully handed the boy the cup, sitting next to him on his bed. **"i thought you should at least drink this if you're not going to eat."**

donghyuck looked at the take out boxes carelessly placed on the table, still full. after getting mad at mark, he absolutely lost his appetite. but how did she know he wasn't going to eat?

**"thank you.."**

**"now tell me, what's bothering you? is mark causing you trouble? i've known him ever since he was a little boy, believe me, he's a good guy."**

taking a few sips of his hot chocolate, he chuckled, thinking how sweet the woman really is. she's like a very caring grandmother donghyuck never had.

**"it's not that.. m-miss?"**

**"call me nana, sweetie. and don't worry about anything, i was informed about the arranged marriage."**  
( bring jaemin up and i'll bite u )):< )

**"well, nana.. since you already know that, you also know that i obviously was completely against this whole thing. but nobody ever listens to me, nobody ever asks me what i want!"**

after seeing that the woman was actually listening to him instead of pretending like all the other people do, donghyuck decided to continue, feeling a sudden urge to just rant about everything. **"in every fairytale, the princess gets a beautiful prince, who rescues them from all the evil. is it too childish to wish for that prince charming?"**

**"no, it's not. we all wish for that one way or another."**

**"i just want someone who would protect me.. i've lost all my strength."**

gently placing her hand on the boy's shoulder, she smiled at him before gently speaking up. **"and what's stopping you from talking to mark about it, hm?"**

**"w-what do you mean? he was the one that agreed to this whole thing! you have no idea how much i hate him for that.."**

**"you might hate him for what he did, but do you hate him?"**

giggling a little, donghyuck wiped the tears that managed to escape again. **"what kind of question is that? i do hate him!"**

 **"it's a very good question!"** laughing along with donghyuck, the maid continued. **"hating him for what he did and hating him for who he is are two very different things. now how can you hate him for who he is, when you haven't even seen the real side of him yet, hm?"**

**"how am i supposed to see some other side of his if he's just a big asshole? he doesn't give a damn about me nor my wishes, he believes everything the others have told him about me."**

**"the key to mark's heart is trust. trust him and make him trust you. talk to him, confidently state your opinions and wishes, keep your promises. he appreciates those things. you weren't the only one forced to do this."**

**"b-but.."** sighing, donghyuck just finished drinking his hot chocolate and looked down, suddenly starting to feel bad for every bad thing he has told about mark. **"you're right, i'm sorry."**

**"come on, eat something. i'll leave you alone to think now, okay?"**

after the younger just nodded, the maid took the empty cup and quietly left the room, giving the boy some space.

**"get a grip on yourself, donghyuck, this is your last chance."**


	7. ↾ seven ⇃

**"mark."**

it was very late at night when the door to mark's room swung open, revealing an uncomfortably looking donghyuck.

mark was just laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. calmly laying in the dark usually helps him think things through, and donghyuck just disturbed that.

**"get out, i'm not in the mood for another fight right now."**

instead of hearing any type of curse words thrown at him, mark heard the door close and felt the empty side of his bed shifting a little.

**"did you just climb in my bed?"**

**"i did."**

after sitting in complete silence for a few minutes, donghyuck let out a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling like mark before starting. **"i'm sorry."**

**"what..?"**

**"i'm sorry for acting like a bitch towards you when clearly i'm not the only one displeased with this arrangement."**

mark rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, still staring at the ceiling. **"glad you finally realize that."**

**"i came here to make a deal. if we both hate this, we could both work against it, no? i know it's not that easy, b-but i thought that we shouldn't fight each other at least.."**

**"deal. i'm tired of fighting, i'm tired of your protests, i'm tired of your insulting remarks. change that."**

**"but i- you- i was just— ....fine."**

good thing it was dark in the room, otherwise donghyuck would've definitely noticed the big smirk mark's wearing right now.

donghyuck's being a bottom again, how cute.

he's not a brat all the time after all.

**"i just don't understand.. why did you agree to get married to a guy? i mean, i get it, you're looking out for the company, but why a guy?"**

**"you want me to get married to a girl when i'm not attractive to girls? that would be even worse!"**

**"o-oh.."** surprisingly blushing a little, donghyuck lowered his voice a little in embarrassment. **"i thought you were straight?"**

**"are rainbows straight?"**

laughing at the question, donghyuck rolled out of mark's bed and sat on ground, staying quiet for a while until speaking up again. **"if i promise to not cause anymore trouble, will you let me go outside?"**

**"and what would you do outside other than cause trouble?"**

**"i'd just take a walk or something since i-i don't have any friends anyway.."**

hearing that, made mark's heart break a little. he doesn't know what it feels like to not have any friends, but he's sure it's not a nice feeling.

how can someone so.. adorable, not have any friends?

yes, adorable.

they've been talking only for about ten minutes, but mark can already see a new side of donghyuck. under all that sass and hate, there's a little puppy hiding, wishing to be loved.

that's when mark came up with an idea.

**"if you really promise me to not cause trouble, i promise to let you do whatever you want, starting tomorrow."**


	8. ↾ eight ⇃

the next morning, donghyuck woke up feeling better than ever.

after that little small conversation with mark, he felt a bit more relieved. knowing that he's not the only one displeased with this arrangement is making him feel better.

and of course, knowing that he's not alone in his fight anymore, is making him feel even better.

mark is not keeping him locked in purposely like his parents used to, he's only doing this to keep him out of trouble. so if he doesn't cause any trouble, he's fine to do whatever he wants!

but.. what if his parents find out? they sure as hell won't like it, right? they did always keep him locked away for so long after all.

he shouldn't be worrying about his parents, at least not for now. he's living with mark, he's married to mark, mark is the one in charge now.

after stretching himself, he got out of bed and still with his pajamas on, left the room and walked downstairs.

the older maid was making breakfast, so that's exactly where donghyuck started heading to first, but was stopped by the younger maid. **"is mark really your husband? you two don't seem so close.."**

is this maid really trying to get into a married man's pants?

**"oh we were being extra close last night alright... keep your hands off my husband before i rip them off, got it?"**

while the girl was struggling to control her jealousy and anger, donghyuck finally walked over to the older maid, wearing a wide smile on his face. **"what are you making, nana?"**

 **"pancakes."** the woman answered and turned to donghyuck, gently pinching his cheek. **"you like pancakes, right?"**

**"yeah, i haven't had any in a very long time.."**

**"well, you're getting them today! now hurry and eat, mark has a surprise for you."**

while placing a few pancakes in his plate, donghyuck raised his eyebrows and looked around in curiosity. **"a surprise? for me? where is he??"**

before donghyuck could run off to look for mark and his surprise, the maid grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the table. **"no, you have to eat first. you already skipped meals yesterday, so no surprise until you finish these pancakes, young man."**

with a clearly visible pout on his face, donghyuck hesitantly poked the pancakes before taking a bite, the pout immediately being replaced with a wide smile.

it was so weird to taste something he hasn't tasted in years, but it also felt amazing. it felt almost like his taste buds were doing a weird little dance as he slowly chewed that little piece of pancake.

he felt his appetite come back after so long, he was finally able to eat without feeling sick or feeling ashamed.

the truth is, no matter how good looking donghyuck is, no matter how many compliments he would get everyday, no matter how confident he acts, he's never actually confident in himself.

he doesn't see what others see, he doesn't see any of that beauty every time he looks in the mirror.

he doesn't even know why.

he's not depressed or anything like that.

...right?

**"i know i told you to hurry, but don't rush that much! you might choke, honey."**

**"o-oh.."** realizing that he has already ate whole four pancakes in such a short time, he chuckled a little and pushed the plate away. **"sorry, i got a little carried away. do you need help with cleaning everything up?"**

**"no, i got it! i'm just glad you ate. now go on, mark should be in the living room."**

nodding, donghyuck got up and quickly made his way to the living room, seeing mark getting ready for work. **"good morning!"**

 **"oh?"** chuckling, mark finished fixing up his suit and walked over to donghyuck with a smile. **"you're actually being nice today."**

**"well.. u-uh.. i-i was told you have a surprise for me..."**

cooing at the sudden shyness of the boy, mark took his hand and led him towards one of the rooms downstairs and opened the door, immediately hearing donghyuck gasp.

a little husky ran out of the room as soon as the door got opened, jumping around donghyuck as it barked in joy.

**"you.. y-you bought me a puppy??"**

**"i thought it'd be great for you to finally have a friend to play with, don't you think?"**

squealing, donghyuck jumped up and down in happiness while clapping, before grabbing mark by his collar and pulling him in for a short kiss.

realizing what he did, donghyuck quickly pulled away with a face as red as a tomato and looked away from mark who was pretty much in a shock trance right now. **"s-sorry, i got a little too excited.."**

kneeling down in front of the puppy now, donghyuck picked it up and noticed it was a girl, so he immediately came up with a name for her. **"i'm going to call you luna, cutie."**

while the younger played with the puppy, mark just watched him carefully, still feeling a little shaken up from the kiss.

everything got suddenly confusing and he wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

**"well, have fun! i-i have to go to work now.."**


	9. ↾ nine ⇃

**"c-can i also get candy?"**

**"and candy, the sweetest ones you can find."**

the maid nodded as she finished writing the shopping list, making sure she wrote down everything mark told her to buy.

she smiled a little at how mark was spoiling donghyuck and pinched his cheeks a little, earning a groan from him in return. **"okay, we should be back in about twenty minutes or so. don't trash up the house in the meantime, you two!"**

donghyuck smiled cheekily and was about to run back to his room with his puppy, when he noticed the younger maid approaching mark. feeling mad out of a sudden, he just walked back over to mark and clung onto him, tightly hugging him.

once he saw the girl angrily huffing and leaving the house together with the older maid, donghyuck giggled and pulled away from mark, who was staring at him weirdly. **"this is actually very fun!"**

**"what is..?"**

instead of answering, donghyuck just kept laughing until he was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing.

at first, both mark and donghyuck thought that one of the maids must've forgotten something, but all that flew out the window as soon as mark's dad walked into the living room.

that honestly scared the shit out of donghyuck and made him hide behind mark immediately.

the boy really didn't like the way the old man was staring at him with that weird smile in his face.

**"dad? what are you doing here?"**

**"what? am i not allowed to visit you and my son in law? oh and by the way, you have a business gathering in china tomorrow."**

**"oh, what a coincidence! donghyuck was just telling me how much he wanted to visit china, so-"**

**"no, you can't take donghyuck with you. that gathering will be highly confidential between partners and technically, donghyuck has not become a partner yet."**

**"i can still take him with me, he doesn't need to attend the meeting."**

**"oh are you two perhaps starting to get along? don't worry, i can stay here and watch over him, keep him company."**

with pure anger finally taking over him, donghyuck got enough courage to straight up step closer to the man, sending a cold glare his way. **"if i don't get to go with mark, i'm fine staying here with the maids. your company is not needed here."**

laughing donghyuck's statement off, the man just looked at mark with yet another weird smile on his face. **"son, could you go get me the documents i sent you yesterday? i need to fix a few errors i've missed."**

mark only nodded and ran upstairs to get the documents, having no idea of what the old man was actually up to.

just as mark left, luna started quietly growling because donghyuck was harshly pushed against the wall by the man.

he felt the old man breathing in his face, touching him in the most inappropriate ways. he tried pushing the man off with all the strength he had, but it was not enough. he still hasn't fully recovered from starvation, which makes everything even more difficult.

the old man kept kissing and even licking all over his neck and was also about to lean in and start kissing the boy, but that's when luna just lost it.

feeling the fear of the younger boy and the clear danger radiating from the old man, luna started barking as loud as she could and started biting the man's ankle even if she was still a little puppy and could barely do any damage.

at least it still got mark's attention and he came running downstairs with concern visible on his face. **"what's happening??"**

**"oh, i just tripped and donghyuck helped me up, son. i guess your little puppy overreacted a bit! look, i'll be here tomorrow in the morning. your plane is leaving at seven in the morning, be ready."**

and just like that, the man stormed out of their house.

that's when donghyuck walked up to mark and started punching his chest while shouting at him as loud as he could. **"why didn't you fight against this?! you're agreeing with everything again and i'm going to be the one suffering, you asshole!!"**

**"ow- stop hitting me and just tell me what happened while i was gone!"**

**"it doesn't matter what happened! what matters is that you agreed even when--"**

**"donghyuck!"**

**"--even when you told me i could trust you, but now you're just going to let him be near me! you broke my trust and i don't ever want to see your face agai-"**

donghyuck was interrupted by something very soft and tempting on top of his own lips and that's when he realized it.

mark was kissing him.

even if this isn't the first time he gets to feel mark's lips on his own, it's still extremely shocking. even if this kiss is just a little peck for a split second, it feels weirdly good and maybe even intoxicating.

is it just his hormones talking because he hasn't kissed anyone before mark?

well, whatever it is, donghyuck didn't bother paying attention to it and simply pushed mark away, glaring at him. **"what the fuck??"**

**"i-i didn't know what else to do, you just weren't listening to me!"**

picking luna up, donghyuck felt a few tears escaping his eyes and that pushed him over the edge.

he was finally beginning to trust someone for the first time.. for nothing.

so before he could break down in front of mark, he turned around and walked back to his room after quietly whispering;

**"don't ever fucking touch me again."**


	10. ↾ ten ⇃

the whole night was like hell to donghyuck.

he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep with all these thoughts in his head.

mostly, he was thinking about mark.

maybe he overreacted yesterday? maybe he shouldn't have gotten mad at mark? he probably really didn't have any other choice or just simply couldn't argue with his dad after all.

yes, he was just being stupid and oversensitive.

he's going to forget everything and will apologize as soon as he sees mark.

but... he can't forget the kiss.

why does it feel like mark stole his first kiss if he kissed mark himself way before? he felt embarrassed when he did it himself and felt a whole damn zoo when mark was the one to do it.

he shouldn't be feeling this way, right?

donghyuck didn't even notice it was already the morning until he heard a very soft knock on his door. surprised, he got out of the bed together with luna, who also woke up to the sound, and opened the door.

it was mark standing in front of the door with his head down, already dressed up and ready to leave. he looked very tired and.. sad? did he stay up all night the same way donghyuck did?

 **"good morning.."** mark spoke quietly, finally looking up at donghyuck with a face that just screamed apologies. **"my dad.. he's already downstairs."**

donghyuck was taken aback a little.

mark behaved so softly and gently, as if donghyuck was the most fragile thing ever. the look in his eyes showed so much affection out of nowhere and that definitely ignited a little spark of new feelings somewhere deep down inside donghyuck's heart.

**"t-take me with you, please."**

**"i can't, not for now at least. i'll figure something out, just hold on a little, okay?"**

sighing, donghyuck nodded understandingly and took a step closer to mark, fixing his messy hair a little bit. **"you need to look presentable at your meeting, you know."** he giggled, but then met eyes with mark and his smile disappeared. **"i-i'm sorry for yesterday.. i overreacted."**

suddenly, donghyuck felt mark wrap his strong arms around his waist and before he knew it, mark was tightly hugging him. **"no, you were right, i should have fought him. i will fight for you next time, i promise."**

i will fight for you.

donghyuck has been waiting years to hear someone say this to him. he has been waiting years for someone to come and save him, for someone to fight for him and his well being.

is mark really going to be that prince charming from a fairytale he wanted to have so much?

**"mark! it's time to go!"**

hearing the old man's voice downstairs telling mark to go, donghyuck pulled away from mark and gave him the most sweetest smile he has ever given anyone before. **"you should really go, don't be late."**

 **"call me if anything happens, okay?"** mark spoke softly once again as he gave the younger a little piece of paper with his number written on it. **"and i mean anything."**

donghyuck just smiled wider and nodded, watching mark walk downstairs. once the older was out of sight, he closed the door and locked it, turning around to face luna.

**"now, shall we dance a little together, luna?"**


	11. ↾ eleven ⇃

after about 20 minutes of donghyuck dancing to various songs and luna just jumping around, both of them fell to the ground, tired. the would've laid like this for a while to rest if it wasn't for the knock on the door, startling both of them.

thinking it was one of the maids bringing him breakfast in the room, he got up and with a smile on his face, opened the door, only to see his biggest nightmare standing in front of him.

once luna started barking, he got back to his senses and was about to quickly close the door, but it was too late. he was pushed inside the room while luna, on the other hand, was pushed out of the room, watching the door being shut right in her face.

after locking the door, the old man turned around with a very sickening smirk on his face, seeing donghyuck freaking out as he looked for anything to protect himself with. **"let's just continue what we started, hm?"**

 **"d-don't take a step closer."** donghyuck stuttered in fear and grabbed a vase he found, getting ready to throw it at the man. **"i'm warning you!"**

the man only chuckled and took a step closer, startling donghyuck which caused him to throw the vase without even thinking. and of course, he missed due to the man dodging it.

 **"come here."** the man groaned and grabbed donghyuck before the boy had a chance to take a hold of something else to throw. **"you'll like it, so why are you fighting back?"**

**"h-help! help me!!"**

**"i've sent the maids to the shop, so scream all you want, i like it."**

dragging donghyuck towards the bed, he pushed him down and climbed on top, his hands already running all over the boy's body.

 **"please.."** donghyuck cried out and started fighting back as much as he could. he pushed, and punched, and bit, and scratched; everything to stop the man.

but, unfortunately, he only received a harsh slap across his face in return.

the man got off of him and started getting undressed, making donghyuck cry even louder. he knew that even if the man is not looking at him, trying to run away won't help at all, he's too weak.

so he did something else, something he was praying to work.

he pulled out his phone that fell out of his back pocket during the struggle and quickly speed dialed mark's number that he saved before and hid the phone under the pillow.

hearing mark answer the call, donghyuck cried out in happiness now and instead of just straight up talking to mark, he talked to the old man, trying to distract him and this way send mark a message. **"p-please, why are you doing this to me??"**

**"i'm always down to have a little bit of fun with pretty boys like you and you.. oh, you're the most gorgeous one i've ever seen."**

**"no! get the hell away from me!"** donghyuck started screaming again once the man grabbed his own tie and started tying the youngers hands to the bed frame, placing kisses on his neck along the way. **"you're disgusting, stop it!"**

mark, on the other hand, was in the coffee shop just a few blocks away from their house as he got the call. the airport is not that far away, so he just took his time and decided to get some coffee.

hearing everything that was happening on the other end of the call, mark left his coffee and sprinted to his car, speeding off to their house. the whole time, he was listening to donghyuck cry and his father laugh which was making his blood boil.

he should've went with his gut, why did he leave donghyuck alone with that man?

the truth is, he knows about his father's dirty little activities. he knows how attracted the man is to younger people, he knows how disgusting and perverted he is. and he sure as hell knows that he will do anything to get what he wants.

with donghyuck's screams getting louder, mark finally pulled over in their driveway, seeing the maids coming back with bags full of groceries as well.

he made eye contact with the older maid once donghyuck's screaming got loud enough to be able to hear it outside the house and both of them ran inside, making their way to donghyuck's room.

since the door was locked, the maid took a step aside as she grabbed luna who was barking this whole time and mark just kicked the door out as if it was made of paper, feeling adrenaline rushing throughout his body.

he ran inside and immediately pulled his father off of donghyuck, punching him hard enough to knock him out. quickly untying donghyuck, he pulled him in his arms and gently caressed his back, waiting for the boy to calm down. **"shh, it's okay. everything's okay now, i'm here."**

soon, the younger maid ran inside and quietly gasped, looking around the room. a few smashed things here and there can't be compaired to the way donghyuck looks right now. exhausted, scared, bruises and all kinds of different scratches can be seen of his body, his clothes were also all ripped.

even if she does hate him for having such a handsome husband, she still felt bad.

that's why with slightly shaky hands, she pulled out a bag from the closet and packed some clothes for donghyuck, also grabbing some clothes for him to change now.

she handed the clothes to donghyuck while looking at him apologetically. **"i-i think you two should go now before he wakes up.."**

while donghyuck was changing in the bathroom, mark pulled out his wallet and pulled out all the cash he had, handing it to the older maid. **"nana, i think you two should stay somewhere else for a while. when it's safe to come back, call someone and change all the locks of this house. oh and please, take care of the puppy while we're gone, okay? don't call the police, i'll take care of everything."**

 **"of course, i'll take care of everything."** she answered in a worried tone and once donghyuck left the bathroom, she walked up to him and hugged him. **"i'm so glad you're okay.. go now, both of you leave."**

taking donghyuck's shaky hand in his, mark pulled him out of the house, straight to the car. once inside, he cupped donghyuck's face and made him look at him. **"did he hit you? did he do anything else?"**

 **"h-he did hit me, but didn't get to do anything more all thanks to you. i'm fine, don't worry."** smiling a little now, donghyuck pushed mark's hands away and grabbed his phone which was soon slapped out of his hands. **"what the hell are you doing?"**

**"you can't call the police."**

**"you're stopping me from calling police on that fucker just because he's your father?"**

**"no, i don't give a damn about him. but he's very respected here, the police won't do anything unless we give them solid proof."**

frowning again now, donghyuck knew mark was right. the same thing would always happen to him every time he tries to call the police on his own parents.

speaking of his parents.. where are they?

**"just give it some time, okay? i'll take care of everything, i promise."**


	12. ↾ twelve ⇃

**"can i do anything for you, gentlemen?"**

both donghyuck and mark were finally on the plane, a private jet in fact, and just kept talking about many stupid things until a pretty attractive flight assistant walked over to them, ruining the moment.

mark was so glad that the younger was not affected that much by everything that happened back at their house since the man was not able to do anything more that just inappropriately touch him.

the boy was comfortably chatting with him him, even giggling and laughing from time to time, as if nothing ever happened. honestly, he was happy to spend his time with donghyuck like this instead of fighting with him all the time like before.

is it bad that this warms up his heart?

he was in such a good mood about all this, but it all got ruined as soon as mark noticed the flight assistant weirdly eyeing donghyuck. she clearly has a thing for him now and that really pisses him off.

 **"my husband over here, would like something non alcoholic."** he spoke lowly, making sure to highlight the husband part. **"i'll just have some water."**

at first, donghyuck was oblivious to everything, until the girl straight up caressed his cheek, making mark stand up in anger. he grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her to the other end of the plane, glaring at her.

**"you really want to lose that fucking hand of yours? he's mine."**

the girl only giggled and wrapped her arms around mark's neck, smirking. **"oh, there's enough room for both of you."**

with disgust clearly written on his face, mark pushed the girl away and walked back to donghyuck, who was still looking a little confused. **"i'm pretty sure she just deadass asked for a threesome."**

donghyuck just burst out laughing and when he calmed down, he made eye contact with mark and cheekily smiled, remembering what he just witnessed. **"i have something to tease you about now."**

**"what are you talking about?"**

**"you were jealous~"** singing the line, donghyuck giggled before continuing. **"and you were being extra possessive, mister. it's kind of hot."** giggling again, it took donghyuck a second to realize what he just said and he immediately slapped his hand over his mouth, not meaning to say that out loud.

watching donghyuck's face get all red and cute as he tried to avoid mark's gaze, mark just tilted his head to the side and playfully smirked as he leaned in, whispering;

**"now i have something to tease you about."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"good evening, i booked a room for two earlier."**

**"name?"**

**"mark lee."**

**"i'm really sorry, sir. your room was taken due to emergency matters. we have another room with one bed prepared, if that's okay with you."**

mark sighed and looked at donghyuck who looked absolutely exhausted. mark really doesn't mind sharing a bed with the younger, but the boy himself might refuse.

when he was about to ask donghyuck if he's okay with it, the boy interrupted him. **"we'll take it, thanks."**

the guy behind the registration desk nodded and handed mark the keys to their room.

mark thanked him and took donghyuck's hand, leading him to their room. he had to lead him like a little kid because the boy was just too tired to even understand what's going on around him anymore.

once they were inside the room, donghyuck suddenly started collapsing, but mark caught him on time. he already understands what's happening, that's why he quickly called the hotel's service and ordered them some food.

he's going to make him eat no matter what, he most likely didn't even eat breakfast this morning.

about 10 minutes after, the food arrived.

mark thanked the guy who brought it and was a bit surprised by how fast the food came. he set everything on the table and made donghyuck sit down, pushing his plate in front of him. **"eat."**

**"i'm really not hungry right now, mark.."**

**"then i'm not eating either."**

**"b-but you have to!"**

**"same goes for you."**

**"but i-"**

**"let's make a deal. everytime i take a bite, you take two bites."**

**"..."**

**"donghyuck."**

with a little pout on his face, donghyuck pulled his plate closer and grabbed his fork, intensively staring at the steak mark ordered. **"fine."**

with a wide smile on his face, mark quickly took a bite of his own steak, looking at donghyuck.

it was his turn now.

the boy looked at the food a bit nervously, but still took the first bite. after putting that little piece of steak in his mouth, he was surprised by how good it tasted and started eating even more, the same way he ate the pancakes.

that made mark feel very happy and even proud. he won't have to worry about donghyuck passing out, at least for now. **"see? it wasn't so bad after all!"**

 **"shhh.."** with a slight blush on his cheeks, donghyuck shushed mark while he ate and once he was finished, he shyly climbed in the bed, hiding under the blankets, too tired to take a shower. **"i'm going to sleep!"**

once mark cleaned everything up and took a shower, he walked towards the bed as well. he smirked, realizing that donghyuck was only pretending to be asleep and got in the bed.

swiftly scooting over to the younger, he wrapped his arm around the boy's small waist, pulling him closer. he could feel the way donghyuck tensed up and how he tried to slowly crawl away, but mark just tightened his grip.

he leaned in and started planting soft kisses on the back of the boy's neck, which made him relax and he actually started falling asleep. the younger didn't try to push him away anymore and that genuinely made him smile.

**"goodnight, you little brat."**


	13. ↾ thirteen ⇃

the next morning donghyuck was the first one to wake up.

he woke up to soft snores and warm breath against the back of his neck. a strong arm wrapped around his waist, holding onto it tightly. legs wrapped around his ones. warm feeling, as his back was pressed against something masculine.

mark's chest.

wait a minute.

 **"what the hell are you doing?!"** donghyuck screamed and got out of mark's embrace as fast as he could, accidentally falling out of bed.

 **"why are you screaming?!"** mark screamed back as soon as he woke up, looking around confused before laughing his ass off.

he saw the younger spread all over the ground after falling out of bed, so he got up to help him up, but the younger started screaming while covering his eyes. **"where are your damn clothes?!"**

oh, right.

he sleeps without a shirt on.

 **"what? don't you like what you see~?"** he teasingly asked and picked the boy up from the ground, holding him in his arms.

**"not at all. now let me go."**

**"not until you admit you love seeing me like this."**

**"fuck you."**

**"language."**

**"fuckity fuck."**

after that, mark dropped donghyuck on the bed and climbed on top of him, now hovering over him. **"mind repeating that?"** he spoke in a lower tone than usual, smiling as he noticed donghyuck reacting to it almost immediately.

 **"go fuck yourself."** donghyuck quietly whispered and looked away, feeling way too shy having mark so close.

it really didn't help when mark suddenly leaned in and playfully whispered in his ear. **"what if i'd rather fuck you instead?"**

donghyuck knew he was just messing around, so he just giggled and gathered all of his courage, facing mark again as he played along. **"that's too bad, i guess."**

chuckling, mark suddenly had a realization hit him like a truck. he started scanning every single little detail of donghyuck's face, his hand automatically going up to gently caress his cheek. **"you're so fucking beautiful.."**

donghyuck gulped, blushing all over again.

hearing mark say this to him was a whole different thing than hearing others say this to him millions of times. it felt different, it had a different effect on him.

what are all these new feelings? he doesn't know if he should like them or not, they're too confusing.

noticing mark leaning in even more, donghyuck closed his eyes out of nervousness and whispered. **"why are you leaning in?"**

**"just.. trust me."**

nodding, donghyuck relaxed and slightly smiled, feeling mark intertwining their hands together. he was about to open his eyes, but froze once he felt their lips connecting again.

this time there was no rush, no sudden choice making. just the two of them, enjoying each other's company.

this is definitely their first kiss.

all these sudden kisses taken without thinking are nothing.

this one was wanted by both of them. so soft, and delicate, warming up both of their hearts.

pulling away after a while, mark smiled softly as he ran his fingers through the younger's hair. **"go get ready, i'm taking you to the gathering with me."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"at least you dressed up properly this time.."** mark mumbled as he secretly checked the younger out from the back while they were walking down the hall to meet the business partners.

this black suit makes him look exceptionally attractive.

especially his ass.

mark mentally slapped himself for thinking about such things and chuckled, catching up with the boy. **"if anymore asks, you're my secretary."**

**"the heirs of two most successful companies got married, you really think no one knows about that?"**

**"that doesn't mean you can't work for me."**

**"so, apparently, i'm working as a secretary for my husband, huh?"**

**"a hot secretary."** mark answered with a wink and before the younger could say anything to that, he walked over to one of his business partners.

 **"mark! glad to see you, but isn't this a private gathering?"** the man said, eyeing the younger boy who was slowly approaching from behind mark.

**"that's my secretary, he has all the rights to be here, don't worry."**

**"your secretary?"** suddenly, a spark of excitement could be seen in the man's eyes as he licked his lips and faced mark again. **"can i borrow him for tonight? he has a really great-"**

**"you keep your damn hands off him, got it?"**

not knowing that the secretary is also mark's husband, the man chuckled, thinking mark was just messing around with the threats, until donghyuck finally approached them and introduced himself.

**"hello, sir. i'm donghyuck, mark's husband."**

with the color being drained from his face, the guy looked at mark one last time only to see him glaring at him even more now, so without saying anything else, he just walked away as fast as possible.

**"aww.. look at you standing up for yourself~"**

**"fuck off.."** donghyuck shyly mumbled and walked to the bathroom, not feeling ready for mark's teasing right now.

he was feeling very hot, so once he was inside the batroom, he started splashing some water on his face and talking to himself in the mirror. **"what the hell is wrong with you, donghyuck? stop thinking about him!"**

after drying himself off, he just stared at the mirror, somehow managing to visualize mark in front of him with all the details clearly visible.

 **"those deep dark brown orbs, the nose that would wrinkle up a little every time he laughs, those cheekbones, those lips- those very fucking kissable lips.."** chuckling in disbelief, donghyuck shook his head and looked down, away from the mirror. **"what in the damn world are you thinking, donghyuck? you can't be falling for mark, that's ridiculous!"**

**"but what if he's falling for you as well?"**


	14. ↾ fourteen ⇃

**"but what if he's falling for you as well?"**

donghyuck flinched a little at the sudden sound of a man's voice and turned around to face them.

a pretty tall, quite handsome guy was standing by the door frame, wearing a cheeky smile on his face.

 **"excuse me?"** donghyuck asked, giving the guy a confused look.

 **"you must be donghyuck, right? i'm jeno, mark's best friend."** the guy, now known as jeno, said with an even wider smile on his face now and held his hand out for donghyuck to shake. **"don't worry, i know about this whole arranged marriage thing."**

 **"hi..?"** donghyuck trailed off, unsure of what's happening, but still shook jeno's hand anyways.

**"so, as i was saying.. what if mark's falling for you as well?"**

**"what do you mean as well? i-i'm not falling for him, we just get along well.."**

**"mhm, sure. the way you were talking about him just now obviously isn't you falling for him. nope, not at all."** jeno snorted, sarcastically answering as he rolled his eyes.

**"if you tell him i swear-"**

**"i won't, but you will. donghyuck, you've managed to change mark in such a short period of time. i've been observing mark ever since he met you. at first, he hated you with passion, but after spending a few days with you.."**

**"w-what?"**

**"a little smile creeps up his lips and his eyes light up whenever he talks about you, he gets nervous whenever somebody else is talking about you, he starts freaking out whenever you get closer to him. who do you think had to listen to him blabber about you for a whole hour after you kissed him for the first time? who had to listen to him the second time? and what about this morning?"**

**"you..?"**

giving the boy a soft smile, jeno nodded and took a step closer. **"yes, me. so trust me when i say that mark is already whipped for you. you just need to step up and talk to him about it."**

**"b-but that's nonsense! that's how all friends act around each other, right..?"**

**"you're new to this, aren't you.."**

frowning, donghyuck looked down at the ground and nodded, feeling confused now more than ever. is jeno right about this? are they really becoming more than friends.. so fast?

chuckling at the cuteness of the boy in front of him, jeno just ruffled his hair, trying to cheer him up. **"keep your head up, your crown is falling."**

giggling a little, donghyuck looked up again, now feeling a little more relaxed. **"what should i do now?"**

**"there are plenty of people stuck to mark like glue, yet he's not paying attention to any of them because you're the only thing on his mind. go out there and see for yourself what a beautiful wide smile will appear on his face the moment he sees you."**

finally giving in, donghyuck took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom, walking back to the hall where mark was.

the older indeed was surrounded by many people, mostly girls. he nervously walked over to them and cleared his throat, catching mark's attention as well as the girls'.

and there it was.

mark looked at him sweetly, wearing a wide smile on his face.

 **"sorry, looks like i have to go, excuse me."** mark said and escaped the girls that were still surrounding him and pulled donghyuck outside with him. **"where were you? i've been looking for you, we're all finished."**

 **"i was.. thinking about.. things..."** donghyuck mumbled and felt a blush creep up his cheeks as he looked down at his hand.

mark was holding his hand as if it was the most casual thing to do.

**"did something happen?"**

**"no, everything's perfect, actually."** donghyuck chuckled and looked at mark with a playful smirk on once both of them got in the car. **"i just had a very interesting conversation with your friend jeno."**

literally chocking on air, mark looked away from donghyuck in embarrassment and started the car as fast as he could, already understanding what jeno could have told him.

**"i'm going to kill him."**


	15. ↾ fifteen ⇃

**"what are you doing..?"**

mark was just laying on the bed and playing on his phone when donghyuck suddenly decided to climb on his lap, just like he did once at the meeting.

**"i'm sitting, can't you see?"**

**"you're on my lap. again."**

instead of saying anything back, donghyuck blushed as he cupped mark's face and quickly leaned in, smashing their lips together.

mark dropped his phone to the side out of surprise, but started responding to the kiss immediately since the younger seemed very eager and maybe even needy for such a kiss.

not even seconds later, it started getting more and more intense, until donghyuck whined out and pulled away, pouting. **"it's not helping!"**

still trying to catch his breath, mark placed his hands on he younger's hips and looked up at him amused. **"what's not helping?"**

**"m-my body is on fire. i thought i just wanted to feel your lips again, but apparently that's not it.."**

**"oh, i see how it is.."** whispering, mark smirked a little and suddenly flipped them over, hovering over donghyuck. **"is my baby perhaps.. turned on?"**

**"y-your baby?"**

**"you're a cute little baby. and you're mine. so, my baby."**

sighing, donghyuck decided to just give in to his feelings.

jeno was right, he does have feelings for mark. even his own damn body knows it and is begging for him, for his touch.

it's really funny how such a broken human being can get attached to someone so fast.

but was jeno right about mark, though? does mark really feel the same way? honestly, that would make donghyuck the happiest person on earth if he does.

**"can you help me with whatever my problem is?"**

**"wait.."** mark mumbled and tilted his head to the side, carefully watching the boy's facial expressions. **"you really don't know what's happening to you right now?"**

**"should i know..?"**

that's when mark remembered something.

donghyuck doesn't have a friend, he denied all the rumors about him sleeping around, he always acts differently to his touches compared to how other people would usually react.

everything always seems new to him.

**"have you ever had a boyfriend, donghyuck?"**

**"no.."**

**"hey.. it's okay!"** seeing donghyuck look away in embarrassment, mark just shook his head and cupped the boy's cheeks, making him look at him again. **"i'm glad to be your first. now, do you still want me to help you with your problem?"**

**"yes, please."**

**"just trust me and let me do all the work."** mark whispered while leaning in even closer, booping their noses together. **"if you start feeling uncomfortable, just tell me to stop, okay?"**

after donghyuck nodded, mark closed the gap between them and connected their lips together again, this time being extra careful.

he soon moved down to the boy's neck and felt him tensing up, but after he put his hands on the younger's waist and caressed it a little, he relaxed again.

he found donghyuck's sweet spot and focused on it for a while, until the boy pushed him away and started tugging his own shirt, heavily breathing. **"o-off.. i want this off, it's too hot in here!"**

chuckling at the younger's cuteness, mark nodded and carefully helped him take it off, getting a little surprised by how skinny the boy actually is. **"better?"**

displaying a cheeky smile on his face now, donghyuck looked up at mark with puppy eyes and started tugging his shirt. **"this needs to go as well."**

 **"oh is that so?"** mark playfully asked and was about to take his own shirt off as well, but his phone ringing interrupted him from doing so. **"goddamn it."**

without even checking, he quickly answered the phone and smiled at donghyuck, caressing his pinkish cheeks. **"yes?"**

**"where the hell is donghyuck?!"**

that made him smirk.

 **"well hello, dad."** mark saw donghyuck flinch a little at the mention of his dad, but he just leaned down and started placing kisses on his chest all the way down to his belly, which rewarded him with quite a loud moan, meaning this was another sweet spot of his. **"my husband is getting all the love and affection he deserves right now. isn't that right, baby?"**

loudly humming in response, donghyuck gasped and ran his fingers through mark's hair as the older kept focusing on his belly area, nibbling his soft skin from time to time.

**"couldn't you just leave him to m- you know what? it doesn't matter, i'm already on my way to china and we're going to have a long chat, young man."**

**"damn, you really are desperate, aren't you?"** laughing a little, mark pulled away from donghyuck and lowered his voice in a threatening way before continuing. **"stay away from him if you don't want to get into more trouble and don't bother calling me again."** with that, mark ended the call and immediately blocked his father's number.

**"w-what did he say?"**

sighing, mark placed a quick kiss on donghyuck's lips and got up, starting to pack their things. **"unfortunately, we need to leave, he's already on his way here."**

hearing that, all of donghyuck's excitement and need for mark suddenly disappeared and his heart started beating like crazy. **"where are we going to go?? w-we can't go back to our house, he's going to go back there when he doesn't find us here!"**

**"hey, relax.. jeno is going to stay here in china a bit longer, so we can crash at his place instead, don't worry. i promised to keep you safe and that is exactly what i'm going to do, okay?"**

taking a deep breath in and out, donghyuck relaxed and chuckled a little, noticing mark staring at him weirdly. **"why are you looking at me like that?"**

the answer he got from the older definitely shook him to the bone.

**"i.. i love you, donghyuck."**


	16. ↾ sixteen ⇃

**"come on, why are you so nervous? just get inside, cutie."** mark chuckled and led donghyuck inside jeno's house using the spare key he always has. **"are you hungry? i could try to make you some-"**

**"mark, what are we?"**

the truth is, after mark confessed his feelings for donghyuck, the boy panicked way too much. instead of telling mark that his feelings are the same even if all of this is still new to him, he just freaked out and left him hanging.

maybe he wasn't thinking straight because of this whole thing with the old man, or maybe he just wasn't ready to admit his feelings yet.

whatever it was, mark understood it and gave him space. it's not like he's going to get mad at the boy for not saying back, that's ridiculous.

he knows the younger feels the same and that's enough for him.

mark sat down on the couch in the living room and looked up at donghyuck confused. **"what do you mean?"**

 **"i mean us."** donghyuck answered and sat down next to mark before continuing. **"you and i. what are we?"**

**"what, do you want me to ask you to be my boyfriend?"**

**"no.."**

**"are you sure~?"**

**"yes! husband is way better.."** donghyuck mumbled with a cheeky smile and sat on mark's lap instead, snuggling up to him. **"also.. i feel like this is the right time to talk about my parents."**

**"what about them?"**

noticing how nervous and hesitant donghyuck suddenly became, mark titled his head in a questioning manner and gently took donghyuck's hand in his, encouraging him. **"baby it's okay. just tell me what's bothering you."**

**"m-my parents had me for money. ever since i was little, they used me for their own good, especially financially. they've been basically selling me for things my whole life."**

**"and this arranged marriage is one of those things..?"**

nodding in response, donghyuck sighed and tightened his grip on mark's hand, continuing. **"if i didn't listen to them, they would punish me with abuse or malnourishment."** with his breath a bit shaky now, donghyuck looked up with teary eyes. **"do you know how we got married?"**

**"i just signed the certificate before work and left right away, you weren't even there yet."**

**"i was never there, mark."**

**"what..?"**

**"the night we first met.. they took me out after i attacked you, remember?"** seeing mark nod, donghyuck continued. **"they drugged me to knock me out for a long time. when i woke up, i was already in our house, right before you came back. they forged my signature on the certificate, mark."**

sitting up straight now, mark quietly groaned in anger, his grip on donghyuck getting tighter as a sudden rush of protectiveness came over him. **"the doctor assumed you were using drugs yourself.. but all these times you've been brought to the hospital overdosed, it was your parents' fault?!"**

**"h-how do you know about that?"**

**"doesn't matter right now. what matters is that i will do everything in my power to protect you, okay? i'll make sure they get what they deserve."**

**"my own personal prince charming.. i can finally happy."**

mark chuckled and tightly hugged donghyuck, smiling at how cute and childish the boy can be sometimes. not long after, he got up and started heading to the guest room with the boy in his arms.

 **"you go to sleep, okay? i have to go to our house real quick to grab some documents. i'll be back soon, but don't wait for me and just go to sleep."** mark said, placing donghyuck down on the bed, and was about to leave the room but the younger grabbed his hand, stopping him.

**"no, i'm going with you! i-i'm scared to be alone.."**

mark just sighed and nodded.

of course the boy was scared. after all, his own husband's father molested him and now he's after him. he must be pretty traumatized..

**"okay, baby, let's go together."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"i think this is it. do you need to grab any extra clothes?"** mark asked after grabbing the documents he needed from their house and looked at donghyuck who was standing next to him, barely able to stay awake at this point.

**"no, i don't think so.."**

**"okay, we should head back no-"**

mark was suddenly interrupted by a pretty aggressive banging on the door. he looked at the door confused. it's like 12 am, who would be knocking at this hour? it sure isn't his father, he probably just landed in china.

either way, he walked towards the door and carefully opened it.

donghyuck jumped up in fear as two men barged in, dressed in police uniforms. one of them walked up behind mark and started handcuffing him. **"mark lee, you're being arrested for scamming in your company."**

 **"w-what?? let him go! he didn't do anything!"** donghyuck started screaming and ran towards mark, trying to pull him out of the guy's grip.

**"i think you should say your goodbyes now, you won't seeing him until the court day."**

now realizing that all of this is actually serious, donghyuck sadly sighed and placed a soft kiss on mark's forehead, sweetly smiling to him as he whispered. **"i love you too, mark."**

this should keep mark's mind occupied for a while, he doesn't want the older to worry too much.

with that, the police pushed mark into the car and drove away, leaving a very shocked and scared donghyuck standing there.

he couldn't understand what just happened. scamming in mark's company? mark isn't in charge of the whole company yet, why is he the one getting arrested?

oh, it must be because his father is too respected around here, just like mark said because mark would really never do anything like that.. right?

finally getting back to his senses, donghyuck grabbed mark's phone that he left behind and looked for jeno's number.

jeno is the only person he can trust now.

he quickly texted him, even though he knew that the boy would already be asleep, but luckily, a few minutes after, he responded.

donghyuck explained everything that happened and jeno told him he'll be back tomorrow to fix everything. he also assured donghyuck that mark wasn't doing any scamming since jeno works together with mark.

after finishing their conversation, donghyuck sighed in relief and grabbed mark's car keys, going back to jeno's house.

**"wait.. did i really confess my love in front of the officers??"**


	17. ↾ seventeen ⇃

donghyuck groaned as his alarm went off. he set it up to go off at 6 am since he wanted to do as much work as he could today. he needs to get mark out as fast as possible.

after taking a shower and fixing himself up, he went downstairs to grab something to eat, but just then, someone unlocked the door and stepped in.

it was jeno with two other guys.

 **"h-hi.."** donghyuck said quietly and shyly once jeno walked up to him and hugged him tightly.

 **"are you okay?"** worriedly checking to see if the boy was hurt, jeno smiled, noticing the hickeys on his neck. **"i see everything went well, huh."**

 **"shut up!"** donghyuck shouted and smacked jeno before looking at the other two boys behind them. **"h-hello?"**

 **"oh, these are my boyfriends!"** jeno said proudly and pulled both of them closer, introducing them. **"jaemin and renjun, they've been very eager to meet you."**

jaemin was the first one to step forward, excitedly hugging donghyuck. "aw **, you're so huggable, almost like a teddy bear!"** he kept talking, looking at donghyuck affectionately. **"can we be friends?"**

donghyuck smiled brightly and nodded eagerly. jaemin was very sweet and affectionate, who woudn't want to have a friend like him? let's not forget that donghyuck never had friends to even begin with.

meanwhile the other boy, renjun, walked over and stood right in front of donghyuck, eyeing him from head to toe. **"you're tall."**

**"no, you're just short."**

with a cheeky smile on his face now, renjun turned to jeno as he threw his arm around donghyuck's shoulders. **"yep, he's definitely our friend now."**

laughing at the boy's savageness, jeno nodded and sat down on the couch in the living room, pulling his laptop out. " **well, now that we all met each other, let's start helping mark. first things first, we need to find a good lawyer."**

jaemin grabbed donghyuck's hand and pulled him to the kitchen, letting jeno and renjun do all the work right now. **"so.. how are things between you and mark? jeno told us a lot about you two."** he asked and started making pancakes, specifically for donghyuck.

the first thing he noticed about donghyuck as soon as he laid his eyes on him was that the boy is just way too slim. his legs were as slim as chopsticks, he's surprised he can still walk without them breaking.

**"u-uh.. we're okay, surprisingly."**

**"it must've been hard to live with someone you don't know, let alone marry them, right? sorry, i'm just a very curious person."**

**"it's okay, i'm glad i have someone to talk to now, actually."** donghyuck chuckled a little and with a smile on his face, started answering jaemin's question. **"it was very hard at first, i was always mad and would always attack him out of nowhere. but after i stopped and slowly started to let him in, he opened up as well. he was so gentle and sweet with me even though i treated him like shit. he even got me a cute little puppy!"**

 **"aww.. you know, he's really-"** jaemin got interrupted when donghyuck just continued to talk about mark, probably didn't even hear jaemin speaking.

**"he's very possessive and protective over me, but that's okay! i've always wanted someone like that.. he saved me and kept me away from his own father, even told him off!"**

**"wait, what do you mean saved you from his father?"** finishing the pancakes, jaemin set them down in front of donghyuck and looked at the boy worriedly. **"what did he do??"**

 **"h-his dad tried to rape me, he molested me. he tried to send mark away so he could have some time alone with me.."** donghyuck quietly replied and gulped, taking a deep breath in as he held his tears back at the memories of that day.

 **"he did what?!"** jeno and renjun asked at the same time after walking into the kitchen together and overhearing their conversation.

embracing donghyuck into a tight hug, jaemin gently caressed the boy's back. **"are you okay?"**

 **"i'm fine, jaemin. mark saved me in time like the prince charming he is!"** giggling, donghyuck just shook his head and looked at jeno, changing the subject now. **"did you guys find anything?"**

 **"the lawyer will be here in about to days, then we'll discuss what to do."** jeno answered and stole one of the pancakes just like renjun did seconds before him.

**"hey, dummies! these are for donghyuck!"**

both boys whined and started pouting like cute little puppies. **"we're hungry!"**

 **"it's okay! you can have some too, jaemin."** donghyuck said and laughed at the bickering boyfriends. **"i won't be able to eat all of them anyways, there's quite a lot."**

**"okay let's all have breakfast together!"**


	18. ↾ eighteen ⇃

and just like jeno said, the lawyer he hired showed up two days later.

those two days were like hell to donghyuck.

he was always anxious and couldn't sleep, thinking about mark all the time. the lawyer was the only one who was allowed to communicate with mark and it was killing him. he just wanted to be with him.

mark's dad also tried to reach out to him, but jaemin and renjun would save him before the man could even take another step closer. they would always tell him off and threaten to call the police on him for stalking, but the man would laugh it all off every time.

when will this bullshit finally end?

**"i talked to mark before coming here. he'll be held in custody until court day. to be honest, the charges are extremely serious, i can't get him out of there without any solid proof showing his innocence."**

sighing, jeno nervously ran his hand through his hair and turned his attention back to his laptop, trying to find any type of proof or come up with some kind of a plan.

the lawyer, on the other hand, turned his attention on donghyuck. **"you must be donghyuck. mark asked me to tell you that you don't have to worry about him, he'll be fine."** he said and gave donghyuck a sweet smile. **"he's more worried about his husband than himself. love these days.."** the man quietly mumbled and laughed softly.

renjun and jaemin just smiled sheepishly at donghyuck after hearing that while donghyuck himself just nodded and took a deep breath in and out to calm himself down. if mark told him not to worry, he won't.

instead, he will do his best to get him out of there.

 **"i think i have a plan, guys."** suddenly speaking up, jeno looked at everyone with hope in his eyes. **"since i'm working with mark, i have access to the company's system. i can sign you in as his secretary so you could get in. you have to go to mark's office and try to find something that could prove his innocence."**

 **"okay, that could work."** donghyuck nodded, but then fear took over him again. **"but what if his dad will be there?"**

**"i don't think he will. i'm pretty sure he's not even allowed to get in since the company is under investigation."**

**"tell me what to do, i'll go."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"someone walked into the office when i was about to leave and they were aggressively looking for something."** donghyuck said as soon as he ran inside jeno's house after coming back from the company.

renjun looked at him and started laughing after noticing how messy the boy's hair was from all the running, meanwhile jaemin just walked up and fixed it for him, smacking renjun for laughing afterwards. **"i'm glad you came back safe."**

coming out of his work room after hearing the boys talking, jeno walked over to them and looked at donghyuck worriedly. **"did you find anything? did anyone see you?"**

**"i hid before anyone could see me and yes, i found quite a lot of interesting things."**

**"okay."** jeno took the briefcase donghyuck had out of his shaky hands and sat down, immediately going through all the files in it. **"let's see what we're dealing with here.."**

 **"wait, donghyuck."** renjun spoke up and stopped donghyuck when he was about to help jeno with the files. **"you said somebody walked in, do you have any idea who it might've been?"**

 **"oh i know damn well who it was. i will never forget the voices of my tormentors."** with that, he just sat down next to jeno and buried himself with work.

both him and jeno carefully went through every file but didn't find anything at all. in other words, mark was absolutely clean. yet, it wasn't enough to get him out of this mess, they needed solid proof.

donghyuck was starting to feel disappointed until he came across a few specific documents with all kinds of statistics of his own parents' company. it got him really confused, why would this be in mark's office if mark has nothing to do with that company?

 **"jeno, kyo inventions hacked into the company's system to do all the scamming. you can clearly see it in the statistics.."** calmly, donghyuck handed the file to jeno, packing the rest of the things up. **"we have our proof."**

**"why does this name sound so familiar?"**

taking his phone out to call the lawyer, donghyuck only sighed before answering. **"because it belongs to my parents', jeno."**

with confusion taking over him now, jeno only tilted his head in a questioning manner. **"are you sure? why would they do such thing?"**

**"believe me, this isn't their first time."**


	19. ↾ nineteen ⇃

**"so you're saying that donghyuck's parents are behind all this?"**

the lawyer came over again after donghyuck informed him about all the proof they've found and was absolutely stunned by all the drama that's going on in this family. this is definitely a first time for him to be dealing with something like this.

 **"yes, and we have enough proof to put them to jail this instant."** jeno answered calmly, although he kept glancing at donghyuck nervously the whole time.

after all, he still doesn't know about donghyuck's history with his parents, he doesn't know how bad they've made him suffer. he thinks the boy might feel sad about them going to jail.

**"today's the court day, are you positively sure you've got everything to help mark?"**

**"we're confident."** jeno said and looked at donghyuck worriedly once again. **"donghyuck, are you ready for this?"**

donghyuck only nodded.

to be honest, he was thinking about a few other things, but he couldn't decide whether to do it or not. he doesn't know if he's ready to fully talk about in details, but at the same time he feels like this could be his one and only chance to put an end to this.

**"great! be at the courthouse in four hours, i'm going to get all the papers ready in the meantime and-"**

he needs to do this.

**"actually, i have a request."**

stopping, the lawyer turned to donghyuck, noticing how anxious he seemed to be. **"of course, what is it?"**

**"well, you see.........."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


⏳  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"guys, i feel like fainting right here and now."**

sure, donghyuck was feeling nervous about everything that's about to go down, but still nothing can be compared to the nervousness he feels seeing mark sitting in the front, turning around to smile at him from time to time.

he has never missed someone so much before.

 **"everything will be alright."** jaemin started and took donghyuck's hand in his his while renjun held the other one, continuing after jaemin. **"jeno and the lawyer will definitely get mark out of this."**

oh how lucky he is to finally have such supportive friends.

suddenly, the judge walked in and everyone stood up from their seats, sitting down after the judge told them to do so.

the judge glanced at mark for a second before starting.

 **"so, mark lee, accused of scamming huge amounts of money from people in his company?"** the judge asked, making sure he's on the right case.

 **"yes, sir."** mark's lawyer answered and just got straight to the point. **"but we have strong evidence proving his innocence. another company, kyo inventions, hacked into his company's system and used it for the scamming."**

gasping, both of donghyuck's parents stood up, obviously not expecting to get attacked since they were here just to watch mark be put to jail. **"excuse me? our company is clean, you have no proof!"**

 **"silence!"** the judge said, making them sit back down immediately.

**"as i said, we have proof."**

getting permission to step forward, the lawyer started explaining every little detail of the proof to the judge and the jury, making sure they understand everything correctly. after all files were throughly examined, the judge was about to announce a break for the jury to make a verdict, but the lawyer wasn't done.

he interrupted the judge before apologetically looking at him as he walked up to the stand with even more things to show. **"actually, your honor.. since we're already here, i would like to make a request for an arrest of someone else in this courtroom today as well."**

**"who might that be and why?"**

**"the defendant's father, your honor. i'm accusing him of stalking and sexual harassment with intent to rape."**

after that, a very loud laughter echoed throughout the whole courtroom, bringing everyone's attention. mark's father stood up from his seat and walked over to the lawyer, ignoring the judge's angry gaze on him. **"you can't prove any of that."**

 **"i have witnesses who have seen your stalking actions multiple time and for the harassment.."** suddenly growing a big wide devilish smirk on his face, the lawyer pulled his laptop out and set everything up. **"i think all of you would definitely see this as solid proof."**

with that, he played a recording on his laptop.

in the recording, everyone in the courtroom could hear those same screams for help coming from donghyuck as the ones mark heard on the day this whole thing actually happened. the voice of the boy's tormentor was clearly the same as mark's father who was standing still, absolutely shocked.

turns out, mark's phone had an automatic call recording system and they were able to get that recording to use it as proof, no matter how uncomfortable donghyuck might feel hearing it again.

hearing that voice and that disgusting laughter, telling him how much fun they're going to have.

if only this wasn't a courtroom, mark would definitely bash the old man's skull in.

**"okay, i think we've heard enough, please turn it off. we'll be taking a fifteen minute break for the jury to make a verdict, everyone please leave the courtroom."**

the lawyer turned everything off and left the courtroom with everybody else except mark's dad. the court officers were told to keep an eye on him for a while.

**"donghyuck, why didn't the lawyer ambush your parents for child neglect and abuse?"**

**"it's all in the past now and they're still going to jail either way, so it doesn't matter."** donghyuck smiled at jaemin once all of them found some empty seats in the hall. **"plus, we can't prove it. sure, we do have medical records of me being abused and all that, but we can't prove it was them."**

 **"hey, i just talked to jeno and the lawyer."** renjun said as he sat down next to the other two boys. **"they said we have very high chances of getting mark out and putting an end to this all."**

with all three of them smiling hopefully and just chatting about many different things, the boys didn't even notice how fast those fifteen minutes passed and it was time to get back to the courtroom and face the verdict.

**"the juries have made a verdict. mark lee is found not guilty and is free to go, whilst the owners of kyo inventions are being arrested and kept in custody until their sentencing. we're also making an arrest on mister lee, you'll be waiting for your sentencing in custody as well. this court is now adjourned, have a good day everyone."**

everyone stood up as the judge left the courtroom and right after that, the court officers took donghyuck's parents out along with mark's dad, making the boy squeal in joy. **"we won!"**

mark, on the other hand, got up from his seat as fast as he could and ran up to the younger, hugging him tightly as he lifted him up to the air, swirling him around couple of times. **"i missed you so much!"** he then started placing many kisses on donghyuck's face, but got pulled away by jaemin and renjun.

 **"hey! we know you miss him, but we're not letting you eat our best friend alive!"** jaemin scolded and playfully glared at mark. **"especially in public, mister."**

**"fine, we'll finish this at home, baby."**  
  
  
  
  
  


**_______**  
**we all know this is just a fanfic so don't even try to attack me with "courts don't work that way" bs, okay? mwah.**


	20. ↾ twenty ⇃

** a month later. **  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"mark, look!"** donghyuck shouts in excitement and shows a new little trick he just managed to teach luna. **"she's so good at this now!"**

chuckling, mark sat down next to the younger on their shared bed, petting the little puppy. **"i'm glad she listens to you well. what a good girl!"**

**"you're exceptionally happy today, did something happen?"**

**"i just got a call from our lawyer. he said my dad, along with your parents, have just been put to jail for a very long time after being found guilty. isn't that great? we don't have to worry about them anymore!"**

nodding, donghyuck gave luna a few treats for the trick and let her run off to play on her own before turning to mark with an even bigger smile. **"well guess what kind of news i've got?"**

**"good news?"**

**"silly.. our three dumbass friends are engaged now! and since we've got all this money from our companies.. i thought maybe we could help them with their wedding?"**

**"what the fuck? why am i the last one to find out?? jeno better make me his best man or i swear.."**

**"can we help them or not?"** whining, donghyuck sat on his favorite seat, mark's lap, and wrapped his arms around the male's neck. **"you'll be the bestest best man out there, i promise!"**

**"of course we can help them, baby."**

giggling, donghyuck placed a few short little kisses on mark's lips' earning a displeased groan from him. **"aww.. does my prince charming want more?"**

**"that's a stupid question when you already know the answer! but.. can i ask you something?"**

**"what is it?"**

**"you've called me your prince charming quite a few times before as well and it seems to be important to you, why?"**

sighing, donghyuck pushed mark down and laid on top of him, getting comfortable because this might definitely be a very long and maybe even confusing story. once he felt mark wrap his arms around his slim body and hear him hum, donghyuck took that as a signal to start.

**"when i was little, i used to read fairytales all the time. i would fall in love with every prince charming who came in at the right time and saved their princess. i was always wishing to get my own prince charming one day who would save me from all the suffering i was going through. you could say i was living in my own little fantasy world with little to no hope left, until you came around and saved me!"**

**"oh stop it, you're gonna make me blush."**

donghyuck softly laughed at mark's playfulness before continuing. **"but after you finally came to me, i realized something."** sighing, donghyuck sat up again and stared down at mark seriously. **"i don't want us to be romeo and juliet or prince charming and cinderella or even ken and barbie!"**

**"what.. do you want us to be then?"**

donghyuck looked at mark affectionately now and gently ran his finger's through mark's hair, watching how the older leaned in to his touch. all these little moments made him realize how lucky he is to have finally fought back for what he wants, because now he has the most perfect husband anyone could ever ask for.

even if hatred took over their minds at the beginning, love always wins no matter what.

now mark is all his, and he is mark's.

their life together is now theirs to control.

so, with a sweet kiss on mark's lips, donghyuck whispered, wearing the most brightest smile in the world;

**"all i want is for us to write our own little fairytale now, markie."**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"we should have a baby."**

**"i was spilling my heart out for you, you idiot!"**

**the end.**


End file.
